Jan. 9, 2002
Box Score
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LEWISBURG, Pa. (www.lafayette.edu) - Bucknell's Matt Quinn sank the go-ahead basket with 14 seconds left and blocked a Lafayette shot at the final buzzer to preserve a 65-64 victory over the Leopards in the Patriot League opener for both teams before 1,427 fans at Davis Gym Wednesday night.
Trailing 64-63 after Lafayette's Brian Burke missed the front end of a one-and-one with 30 seconds left, Bucknell got the ball to Quinn, who made a tough driving layup with 14 seconds remaining.
After both teams used timeouts, Lafayette's Burke missed a 12-footer from the right wing. Reggie Guy grabbed the offensive rebound in the lane, but Quinn stuffed his follow shot as time expired.
Bucknell ended a six-game losing streak in league openers and improved to 5-9 overall. Lafayette fell to 6-7 and had its four-game winning streak in Davis Gym snapped. The Leopards also fall below .500 on the season for the first time in more than a month.
The see-saw affair featured 19 lead changes and four ties. Lafayette led by as many as eight points in the opening half at 31-23 following a Ben Saxton 3-pointer with 49 seconds left. The Bison used a Boakai Lalugba three-point play and Chris Rodgers' runner at the buzzer to crawl within 31-28 at intermisson.
Bucknell went up by five on Rodgers' trey six minutes into the second stanza, but Lafayette used a 10-4 run to reclaim the lead and set up a dramatic final 10 minutes in which neither team led by more than four points.
Quinn and Saxton traded 3-pointers, and Justin DeBerry's 15-footer with 3:11 left gave Lafayette a 62-60 lead. Lalugba followed his own miss to tie it at 62 with 2:41 left, but just over a minute later the Leopards went right back on top on Mike Farrell's baseline drive and layup.
Lalugba sank 1 of 2 free throws with 39 seconds left to get Bucknell within one at 64-63. Lafayette called timeout with 29.8 seconds left and Bucknell fouled Burke before the Leopards could inbound. Burke, an 88-percent free throw shooter on the season, gave the Bison a chance to win by missing the front end.
Bucknell's Lalugba and Lafayette's Saxton tied for game-high scoring honors with 17 points each. Werner added 12 points and a career-high 13 rebounds, while Rodgers had 11 points for the Bison. Bucknell shot 55.2 percent from the floor in the second half and 49.1 percent for the game, but struggled from the free-throw line, making only 9 of 19.
Lafayette received 12 points apiece from DeBerry and Farrell. Burke, the Leopards' leading scorer, finished with a season-low seven points on 2-for-11 shooting.
The turnover-filled contest included a total of 39 miscues, 21 by Bucknell.
The Leopards return to Kirby Sports Center to host Holy Cross on Saturday, Jan. 12 at 3:15 p.m. It is "Take A Kid To The Game Day" at Lafayette and tickets are still available for purchase right here at GoLeopards.com.
